intermittent starting

[crazyhorse357]

Here is a new problem, my wife got in the Conti today , and it would not start, engine spun but no start, so I tried to start it and same thing happened, so I take her where she wanted to go and when we got back I tried to start it and batta boom, batta bing, started right up, switched it off, waited about a half hour and tried it again, started right up.
Has anyone had this problem?
PS: the car had not been started in about a week maybe ten days.

[v8_dave]

Here is a new problem, my wife got in the Conti today , and it would not start, engine spun but no start, so I tried to start it and same thing happened, so I take her where she wanted to go and when we got back I tried to start it and batta boom, batta bing, started right up, switched it off, waited about a half hour and tried it again, started right up.
Has anyone had this problem?
PS: the car had not been started in about a week maybe ten days.

Hey again C-horse!

How long did you try, could all the fuel have flowed back into the tank and it took a bit for the fuel pump to get it back up there. Unfortunatley it could be alot of things, like a sticky fuel pump relay for one. Listen for the fuel pump next time this happens. Or switch it now for the horn one so maybe it wont happen again. These intermittant problems suck. :(

[Dibly74]

I've had that same problem and it turned out to be crank sensor related. It wasn't the sensor itself but the two wires going to it. About an inch and a half back from the connector the wire casing wore away and the wirest shorted out on each other. The starting would come and go, and when it woulden't all it would do is turn over. I put some electrical tape on it and it never gave me a problem since. This seems like a good place to start, because the only thng I can think of that will give you no reaction whatsoever ir no spark or no gas. And I don't think that a feul pump can go completely and come back online. Maybe something electrical to it but I would look into the crank sensor and ignition coils first. If the bottom of one has even a slight crack it will arc and ground out. Hope this helps you a little. Oh yeh when it happened to me the car had not been started in a few days either.

[crazyhorse357]

Dave and Dilby,
Thanks for the insight, these are some good places to start looking, I went out first thing this morning and tried it and it started right up,like a new one, but like some old mechanic once told me , " ya can't fix it if ain't broke", so I suppose I will check for the crank sensor wires and swap the relays, then hope for the best, don't think it's the coil, wouldn't it present an ongoing problem??
My wife thinks it could be in the keyless entry, in other words computer related.
By the way where are the crank sensor wires located, probably behind the third gate to hell, knowing my luck.

Once again many thanks, three heads are always better than one that does not function properly, sometimes I wonder about me.

Frank

Oh, Dave,
I couldn't hear the fuel pump over that ragged ass air compressor, kinda puts you in the mind of a jack hammer, that problem is soon to be fixed, with the addition of coil springs.

[v8_dave]

Great, good luck, wish we had some more heads in on your thread, but people are still out enjoying the weather I think. :)

[Dibly74]

The crank sensor is actually to get to. If you remove the right front wheel you will see the crank pully. To the left of that is the sensor. Just a two wire connector. You might have to pull back a haet shield or some electrical tape to see the short if there is one. That was the exact thing my car was doing so driving it might not be smart because you could get somewhere and it die on you or even in the middle of driving and it die. Hope you get it fixed and post it here on what the problem is when you find out.

[crazyhorse357]

Thanks Dave & Dibly,
I apperciate the advise and encourgement, so far it has not done that again, have cranked it several times and it started right up.
I have got to replace the air springs with coils so there will be my opportunity to have the wheel off and check for defective wires to the crank sensor.
I will let y'all know what I find.
thanks again,
c-horse

[crazyhorse357]

Well Guys,
I just wanted to update y'all on the status of my intermitent starting problem, I did as suggested and found the crank sensor and it's connector, looked fine just loking at it, although when I pulled on the connector it just pulled apart, real easy, no effort at all.
So I had a look on the inside of the connector, e-thing looked fine, not corroded, looked like new, so I plugged it back in and decided to try and start it and what do you know, it fired right up, although when I put the connector back together I felt it click and I tried to pull it apart again it would not come apart, it was secure, it's hard to believe that it worked itself loose, but it's tight now and it cranks every time.

A great big THANK YOU, to both you guys for your help, I would have never figured out the problem without you guys, more than likely saved me a couple of hundred bucks.
Oh, by the way, the air-springs are history, coils have been installed, ride is a little stiffer, but at least the headache is gone.
The guys at LOL are the greatest.
Thanks again,
Frank aka crazyhorse357

[v8_dave]

Good job Frank! Now the car is good to go for a while longer! :)

[crazyhorse357]

Thanks Dave,
This little job was nothing, however it did get me back on the road, and I really do appreciate the help from you guys, but the real bitch was compressing the coil srings over the front struts when I changed over from air ride to coil springs the rear were easy , but the front were another story altogether.
Frank

[sam_sayz]

Good to know that your problem was solved. As with my starting issue, replacing the fuel sensor did not seem to alleviate the issue. The ignition seems loose and there seems to be an electrical short/'disconnect'. I am looking for Chilton's repair manual (http://www.innerauto.com/Auto_Part/Repair_Manual/). Or will prolly just turn my car over to a trusted mechanic.

[crazyhorse357]

Just a little play with words, no harm meant.
My ignition switch was not loose, but I'll tell you what I have discovered lately the problems with loose igaition switches in a lot of cases, and I'm not saying yours is one of them, is too many keys on the key ring. I used to work at a Chevy dealership, as a service writter, and when someone came in with a damaged switch, the mechanics told me that too many keys will wear a switch out prematurely.
In other words "they just don't make em like they used to".
As for your repair manual, I have looked for a Chilton manual for my 96 Conti and I couldn't find one, I don't think they publish one for this car, if they do I could never find one on the internet, I do however have a Ford factory service manual and would be glad to research anything you would like me to, it doesn't have a lot of pix and they use a Rotunda tester, that by the way are made right here in my hometown of Greenwood, Mississippi by Hickok Inc., in most electrical problems, they call them "pin point tests", with out one of these testers your amount of sucess is very limited, but you tell me what to look up and I will be glad to, I can't however scan any text or pix , no scanner.
If Ican help in any way just "HOLLER".
Frank aka crazyhorse

[v8_dave]

Yep, and fordcds.com can get you the service manual to download free. :)

[crazyhorse357]

Well Dave,
You are just a storehouse of useful information, I did not know the free cd download was possible.
If I had known that I would not have spent $56.00 on this paper manual that I bought. Oh well, I can always use it for other things such as TP.
Frank aka crazyhorse357

[crazyhorse357]

Yep, and fordcds.com can get you the service manual to download free. :)

Dave,
I went to the Fordcds.com website and I would not know where to begin, all that jargon is Greek to me, they are talking about burning cd and a whole lot of other stuff, and I am in the pitch black dark.
Frank "c-horse"

[v8_dave]

Yea, you need to burn a cd or something, theres a thread in the TC section about how to do it but I cant search now. Its easy once its done. :)